Biography
I published my first story when I was in seventh grade!
From my early elementary years in grade school, I enjoyed dreaming up stories about animals. Before I could write I would spend hours drawing pictures and creating stories in my mind. One of those early stories was entitled, "The Adventures of Mud Dud". This was a series of cartoon type pictures depicting a small fish trying to find significance in his underwater world. I spent much of my time just writing or thinking about stories I could write.
I continued my love of writing into my junior high years. My seventh grade english teacher inspired my writing interest to its highest level. In fact, one of my stories I wrote that year was published in the local newspaper. From that moment on, I set my aspiration on being a "real" author.
In my college years, I studied journalism at the University of Mississippi. Later, I earned my M. Ed. from the University of New Orleans. During this time I taught third grade. I enjoyed reading the stories from other authors in our basal series, but I thoroughly enjoyed teaching my eight and nine year olds the process of writing.
After Hurricane Katrina displaced our family to Ponotoc, MS, I wrote my first children's book manuscript, entitled "Three Little Crawfish." This story began a flood of ideas that had been locked up in my mind for years. I submitted this story to several publishers and waited. Meanwhile, I continued to write in my spare time. Finally, seven years after I began writing and submitting, my story, "Three Shrimp Went Swimming" will be published by Inspired Books. The name of the story was changed to "Three Little Shrimp" and will be available in May 2013.
I live in Slidell, Louisiana (right outside of New Orleans) with my wife Eve and our five children (Steven, Chris, Andrew, Victoria and Ryan). I am still teaching third grade and plan to continue to share my love of writing with the students that come my way.
Industry Expertise (3)
Publishing
Education/Learning
Writing and Editing
Areas of Expertise (3)
Fiction
Books
Publishing
Accomplishments (1)
Sallie Mae First Year Teacher Award (professional)
1987-05-16
Sallie Mae annually sponsors the First Class Teacher Award to honor the nation's most outstanding elementary and secondary educators during their first year of teaching. This program is implemented in cooperation with the American Association of School Administrators, the professional organization representing 15,000 education leaders nationwide. The winners were nominated by their school superintendent.
Education (2)
University of New Orleans: M. Ed., Education 1996
The University of Mississippi: B. A., Journalism 1982
My Journalism degree had an emphasis in Public Relations. I also had a minor in Marketing and Advertising.
Affiliations (2)
- SCBWI
- SPAN
Sample Talks (1)
Motivating Your Child to Write
Children love to read or entertain themselves with video products, but few are interested in writing creatively. In fact, most students in elementary and junior high despise writing altogether. So what is a teacher or parent to do? Motivate them to want to write. My talk on "Motivating Your Child to Write" is based on my experience as a teacher of writing in elementary school for the past 25 years. I will give 10 ways to motivate and a surprise motivator that is guaranteed to work.
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Author Appearance
Social